KTM was the first major motorcycle manufacturer to debut a production-ready electric motorcycle, all the way, way back in 2011. In true KTM fashion though, it has taken six years for the “Ready to Race” brand to be ready for the US market with its electric motorcycle design.
This is because KTM North America is finally bringing the KTM Freeride E-XC to the United States, starting with a handful of dealerships (11, to be precise) who will carry the electric dirt bike, reportedly in limited quantities.
Your guess is as good as ours as to why it took so long for KTM to bring the Freeride E-XC to the USA, though we have a pretty good idea why its debut is happening at this particular point in time. Even still, today’s news is just the first step to a full rollout.
“KTM has created this pilot program as a way to better understand the level of consumer interest in electric motorcycles, which will assist us in future planning when considering serial production of electric motorcycles in the coming years,” said Tom Etherington, Vice President of Sales at KTM North America.
“The exciting part for consumers is that through this pilot program, the Freeride E-XC is available for a price that is substantially less than these models would sell for outside of this program.”
Pricing for the KTM Freeride E-XC looks to be pretty aggressive, with KTM North America setting the MSRP at $8,299. That’s significantly cheaper than the Alta Redshift MX ($14,995) and Zero FX ($8,495).
Though with peak horsepower coming in at only 22hp (rated horsepower is set at 15hp), the 238 lbs dirt bike will still have some stiff competition to contend with from the electric upstarts.
Source: KTM North America
